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Giving Back

This past Sunday's premiere of Oprah's Big Give (the media maven's new philanthropic reality show) got me thinking about my own brushes with charity in recent years. I belong to an organization here in New York City called New York Cares, which matches community volunteers with a wide variety of different charitable organizations throughout the five boroughs. Through New York Cares, I've participated in events ranging from a senior citizens' prom to a vast public art project called "Garden in Transit," which involved painting colorful decals to decorate the city's buses and taxis. While I've enjoyed all of my volunteer experiences, I will admit that there is one special program, Culinary Explorers, that stands out as my favorite.

Culinary Explorers pairs underprivileged preteens and teens with community volunteers in a six-week program designed to teach kids the joys of cooking through interactive, hands-on instruction. Last fall, one evening every other week, I headed up to a recreation center in Harlem to meet with fellow volunteers and kids to create a multi-course dinner to share at the end of each two-hour session. Our menus ranged from simple snacks like buffalo chicken wings and nachos to more ambitious spreads of roasted turkey, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie (in honor of Thanksgiving, as you might have guessed). The meals were always tasty, but the real treat was watching the kids get excited about cooking and teaching them the value of teamwork in the kitchen. I have to confess that I've taken an extended hiatus from the program in the past few months (blame the cold weather), but with the steadily lengthening days (yay, sunlight!), I've become inspired to sign up for the next spring session.—Heidi Cho

What are some of your favorite charities? Tell us about it in Comments.

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